Beacons will be lit across the Medway Towns next week to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Seven beacons across the Towns will burn bright on Thursday as part of a national salute to Her Majesty.

To mark the occasion Medway Council are inviting residents to enter a competition to light Medway’s main beacon at the Great Lines Heritage Park in Gillingham with the deputy mayor of Medway, Cllr Steve Iles.

There is a long tradition of celebrating royal jubilees, weddings and coronations with the lighting of beacons across the country. The last beacon celebration marked the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012.

To enter the competition write a Tweet stating why you should be chosen to light the beacon using the hashtag #MedwayBeacons. The winner will be contacted via Twitter by the council’s official account, @Medway_Council, on Tuesday.

Entrants must be aged 12 or over, live in Medway and be willing to have their photo taken.

Cllr Steve Iles, deputy Mayor, said: “I am very much looking forward to lighting the Great Lines Heritage Park beacon to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

"It’s a special occasion set to be celebrated nationwide and I am pleased I’ll be lighting a beacon alongside the winner of the competition, as well as hundreds more people up and down the country.

“Good luck to all who enter the Medway beacon lighting competition.”

Other beacons will be lit in Capstone Country Park, Capstone Road, Chatham, Riverside Country Park, Lower Rainham Road, Gillingham, Victoria Gardens, Fort Pitt Hill, Chatham, Broomhill Park, King Arthur’s Drive, Strood, Kings Hill, Hoo, and Pond Hill, Cliffe, at 8.30pm.

Do you know anyone who will be celebrating their 90th birthday on the same day as the Queen? Email medwaymessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk or call 01634 227803.